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Larry the Debaser
Larry, otherwise known as Larry the Debaser, is the primary antagonist in the 2019 book Shields. He dated a woman named Petunia and they undertook a perilous journey to Khustandil. After Petunia betrayed him and he was subsequently forbidden from entering Khustandil's gates, Larry sought to conquer Khustandil and use its resources for an undisclosed "grander scheme". Biography Early life Larry was born on Jupiter at some point prior to the 2090s. Journey to Khustandil Traveling with Petunia Eventually, Larry arranged to journey to Khustandil, a paradise that no one else was willing to risk going to, accompanied only by his girlfriend, Petunia. To reach Khustandil, he knew he would have to travel across a strong and extremely mutated current. Many had warned him against undertaking the mission in the first place, but Larry brushed it aside, believing he and his girlfriend were mighty and it would take far worse things to throw him astray. During the journey, Larry realized that Petunia did not always trust him, despite their romantic history together. Petunia, on the other hand, often complained that she was giving while Larry was taking. For some reason, Larry eventually came to suspect that Petunia was planning to kill him and finish the journey, alone and unobstructed where he could not bother her again. Losing Petunia One night, he found himself unable to sleep, and he regarded his girlfriend's slumbering form with distaste inspired by a heated argument the previous day. For a brief moment, he let his suspicion and mistrust get the better of him and he pointed his spear at Petunia's face, resolving to kill her and prevent her from doing vice versa, as he had convinced himself she was actually coming closer and closer to deciding she had the heart to do this. This instinct was gone almost the second that it had come, and Larry's welled-up rage was immediately replaced with shame. Larry titled his head back and screamed. His exhilarated scream awoke Petunia, who immediately saw Larry standing over her with his spear ready for the kill. Confused, heartbroken, and enraged at the same time, Petunia whipped out her knife and stabbed Larry in the arm. Larry retaliated by pushing her away, and despite making multiple attempts to explain himself, Petunia continued attacking him until she was left dangling off a cliff. Larry rushed to hoist her up, begging for her to realize she had made a mistake. Petunia tearfully cited that she had too by trusting him, but Larry did not respond. He began tugging her to ground, but Petunia, in an act of evident suicide, kicked him and let her momentum carry her off the ledge. Deeply affected by the attempted murder of his own girlfriend, Larry trudged on, finishing the journey on his own. However, he learned that his girlfriend was already there when the Gatekeeper informed him. She stated that Larry had failed her and may be able to return someday when he had "cleaned up his act", but Petunia had lost her mind in a moment of self-defense and had nothing to be ashamed of. As a compromise, she promised Larry could be granted entry if Petunia said he could. She asked a friend of hers to fetch her, but he returned with the news that Petunia had refused to talk at all. With this final piece of evidence that their relationship had been damaged beyond repair, Larry was forced to leave. Outrage over failure Plot against Khustandil Left deeply affected and mentally broken by what he believed to be his ultimate failure, Larry developed a strong feeling of hatred and repulsion toward Khustandil and all within it. Realizing a band of monks were in the same situation as he, Larry overpowered them, asserted his authority, and brought them together into a monk order of the Debasers. Together, they sought to conquer Khustandil and use its resources for an undisclosed grander scheme. In the mix, Larry and his followers constructed a battle robot, the Ferity Engine. The process lasted for two entire decades. Hunting down Gerekrigkit Gerekrigkit told Larry he was going to Khustandil with Brian Lindermann. Larry warned him not to go, but Gerekrigkit did not listen. Deciding the time was right to overthrow Khustandil, Larry and his Debasers secretly followed the two children and watched as they were joined by Tom. Larry charged his monks with capturing Gerekrigkit and questioning him, and sent his pet Zarcan, Bob, to assist them. However, it turned out that the monks were ambushed by wild beasts and forced to flee. After awkwardly stepping into his hologram with his helmet nearly sliding off, Larry righted himself and contacted one of his followers and blamed them all for the failure of the mission. Eventually, Larry became aware that the Debasers were secretly being followed by a suspicious teenager named Julie. He asked for her files, and upon receiving them, assessed that her special needs did not make her harmless. When one of the Debasers insisted that he was wrong and Julie could not possibly upset their plans, Larry asserted what she could do before crushing his head with his hammer, causing him to fall off the side of the mountain. The Debasers' new objective Larry was later called by a Debaser, who told him and the others the trio was about to make it to the gates of Khustandil. Larry picked up Bob and briefly cradled him, before deeming him as "much too noisy". He proceeded to throw the creature out the window to its death. Afterwards, he took his followers and they approached Khustandil ready to destroy Gerekrigkit and conquer the realm. During their trip, Larry's memories of the trail proved useful in reaching their destination fairly quickly. Death Upon arriving, they were ambushed by Larry the Debaser, who revealed his true plans to them and recounted his tragic loss of his ex-girlfriend Petunia. Gerekrigkit and Lindermann rudely rebuffed him, so he leaped down to face Tom directly, who nervously backed away from him, calling him an "evil thing". Larry asked if he would swear to him his fealty, but Tom threw a stone at his cheek. Larry sardonically claimed he took that as a "no" and directed the Ferity Engine upon all three of them. The Ferity Engine fired a missile at them, but Tom leaped in front of it, sacrificing himself in the process, and G-Kit fell unconscious. Larry was dumbstruck upon realizing the culmination of twenty years of work had been destroyed in one fell swoop. He turned to Brian Lindermann, who had been left alone to face the Debaser. The two battled each other, with Larry eventually being defeated by Lindermann. However, in an act of mercy, he let Larry go. However, Larry, whose inner beliefs had not changed overall, refused to back down and strangled Lindermann. This cruel act, however, would be his last, as Larry lost his footing and fell off a cliff with Lindermann forcing him to release his throat just in time not to fall down with him. Physical description Larry the Debaser has dark skin and wears green armor from head to toe, not being clad in any other color. He even appears to wear green eyeliner and vibrant green contacts. Personality and traits Larry the Debaser is extremely vulgar, scheming, cruel, bitter, self-centered, and violent, having no qualms against harming or threatening others to get what he wanted, and showing as little mercy to his followers as he did his enemies. He even killed his own pet Zarcan, Bob, deeming him "much too noisy". Larry's utter bitterness is confirmed when he shows himself to be a backstabber in his final moments, showing that he also cheats at things. He is also grotesquely cheerful and preposterous, though he is also very goal-oriented, as he takes his plans of vengeance and domination very seriously. After he irrationally attempted to kill his girlfriend, came to his senses, and was left betrayed and unforgiven by her, coupled with his failure to live in Khustandil, Larry became embittered as well as grief-ridden and moved to overthrow Khustandil and use its resources to achieve his own ends. However, he failed to take accountability for his own paranoia, impatience, shallowness, and inability to cooperate with his own lover, which led up to the tragedy. When he was angry, Larry was unpredictable: he was capable of being cold and calm, but could also explode with rage and when he lost his temper he never hesitated to slay even his own loyal followers. When one of his Debasers failed to find Gerekrigkit, Larry shoved his face into the ground, whining that he felt very tempted to "turn your skull into a very gross pudding", though he ultimately spared him at the last second. When he was aggravated that no one had noticed Julie following them, he killed a Debaser for asking what one girl could do to their organization. He expected complete respect from his Debasers, but he did not truly care for any of them in return. Although Larry's machinations are cruel and uncaring and derive from his own pain and trauma, his informal approach to domination makes him very self-aware and funny. Indeed, Larry often makes dark/irreverent jokes at the expense of other people. For instance, he says that if brains were muscle, Brian Lindermann would be weaker than G-Kit. He also tells G-Kit, probably hypocritically, that he should be nicer, as "you never know when you might need to borrow a cup of sugar". Powers and abilities Powers Peak-Human Durability: Larry was remarkably fit and agile, as he was capable of undertaking the perilous journey to Khustandil and making it there, even though most died on the road. Even with Petunia's loss grieving him beyond endurance, he still made it to Khustandil prior to his rejection. Abilities *'Hammer Mastery': Thanks to his training, Larry is extremely proficient in wielding melee weapons, especially his hammer. *'Spear Mastery': Larry is capable of wielding a spear, which he presumably used to ward off wild beasts during the journey to protect both himself and Petunia. *'Expert Tactician': Larry was an experienced soldier, and as such, he was a highly trained strategist. He led the Debasers to Khustandil. *'Engineering': Larry was also skilled at building advanced technologies and weapons, such as the Ferity Engine. Possessions *'Hammer': Larry was the wielder of a large and powerful war hammer. In addition to using it as a melee weapon, he used it as a makeshift staff during rituals. *'Spear': Larry owned a spear during his journey, presumably wielding it in defense of himself and his significant other. Fearing Petunia was plotting against him, Larry approached her as she lay asleep where he raised the spear out of pure instinct. Immediately feeling a sense of shame in considering killing his girlfriend even only for an instant, Larry screamed, waking Petunia and leading to her turning her back on him. *'Bob the Zarcan (Formerly)': Larry the Debaser possessed a fearsome pet Zarcan, though he ultimately tossed it out of the window, deeming the Zarcan "much too noisy". Relationships Petunia Larry was romantically in love with Petunia, and he believed firmly in her great strength. In spite of their history together, they did not always trust each other. Eventually, they arranged to journey to Khustandil. During the journey, Petunia often complained that she was giving while Larry was taking. For some reason, Larry eventually came to suspect that Petunia was planning to kill him and finish the journey, alone and unobstructed where he could not bother her again. In his paranoia, he convinced himself that his own girlfriend was growing closer and closer to having the heart to end his life. One night, he distastefully regarded his girlfriend's slumbering form and, for a brief moment, let his suspicion and mistrust get the better of him and he pointed his spear at Petunia's face, resolving to kill her and prevent her from doing the opposite. This instinct was gone almost the second that it had come, and Larry's pent-up rage was immediately replaced with shame. His resounding scream woke Petunia, who immediately saw Larry standing over her with his spear. Confused, heartbroken, and enraged at the same time, Petunia assaulted him, forcing him to defend himself and repel her. Larry rushed to save her from falling off a cliff, begging for her to realize she had made a mistake. Petunia tearfully cited that she had too by trusting him and faked her own death, severing all ties with him, despite Larry's profuse apologies. Deeply affected by the attempted murder of his own girlfriend, Larry trudged on, finishing the journey on his own, only to learn Petunia was alive and already in Khustandil. The Gatekeeper stated that Larry had failed her and may be able to return someday when he had "cleaned up his act", whereas Petunia had nothing to be ashamed of. As a compromise, she promised Larry could be granted entry if Petunia said he could. She asked a friend of hers to fetch her, but he returned with the news that Petunia had refused to talk at all. This served as the final piece of evidence that their relationship had been damaged beyond repair. Larry's loss left him in a depressed and infuriated state for the rest of his life. On the other hand, Petunia eventually came to forgive him and take responsibility for helping rise tensions so high, and appeared to genuinely regret hearing about his death, at least until learning what he had been doing in the last twenty years of his life. Debasers Julie Julie was the girlfriend of Gerekrigkit and she suspected Larry was in charge of the Debasers, an organization which — unbeknownst to him — she already knew about. Julie furiously told him to "decide where his loyalties lie". She later called him a "moron" after his death. Appearances *''Shields'' References Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Antagonists Category:Villains Category:Adults Category:Shields characters Category:D.I.T. characters Category:Deceased Category:Jovian characters Category:Lovers Category:2110s deaths